I've been here almost 2 weeks getting to know TCS and posting on different threads here and there. I guess it's time to introduce myself. My family always had cats when I was growing up. Mostly they were all outdoor/indoor cats. Then I moved out and didn't have a cat again for several years until I got a kitten, Boogie Bear, a pretty, feisty calico. A year later, my sister found a little kitten near where she used to work. So Boogie Bear got a stepbrother, Sgt Pepper, a sweet, handsome black cat. They have been indoor only since kitten-hood. I figure I've spent too much money on them getting them fixed and on shots and checkups to let them out to possibly run off. Besides that, I know they are safer and healthier indoors. She is 10 now and he is 9.
A few years ago, along came Jumbo. I estimate he is about 8. He is another black cat. He used to belong to someone who had him neutered and declawed, but then abandoned him to the outdoors. He lived in my empty shed and hung out on my patio. But didn't trust me at first and always ran off. He didn't stop that until he saw me being nice to his tabby friend. It took months of coaxing. A year later he got into a fight or something and his nose was severely injured. I tried to treat it myself with ointment, but it didn't help. My heart hurt looking at his face like that, especially since he so much like Sgt Pepper. I managed to get him in the carrier and to the vet. He got steroid and antibiotic shots. I took him home and let him back in the backyard. But by 2 or 3 months later, he still wasn't healed and his front legs were rubbed raw too. Then there was a weird thing with one eyed that I was freaking out about. I took him back to the vet where he got more steroid and antibiotic shots and they gave me an oral antibiotic to give him for a week. He stayed in the house after that. He had 3 or 4 more rounds of steroid and antibiotic shots over the next 8 months for so before the skin and fun on his nose and legs finally grew back. On top of all that he also had a severe flea allergy messing up other parts of his skin. The poor cat didn't belong outside.
Jumbo is a really sweet lap cat when it's just him. He doesn't like Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper and they hate him. That is pretty much the reason I found this forum. But I'll get into that a later in the behavior section. I'm really glad I found this community, I wish I'd known about it years ago.
A few years ago, along came Jumbo. I estimate he is about 8. He is another black cat. He used to belong to someone who had him neutered and declawed, but then abandoned him to the outdoors. He lived in my empty shed and hung out on my patio. But didn't trust me at first and always ran off. He didn't stop that until he saw me being nice to his tabby friend. It took months of coaxing. A year later he got into a fight or something and his nose was severely injured. I tried to treat it myself with ointment, but it didn't help. My heart hurt looking at his face like that, especially since he so much like Sgt Pepper. I managed to get him in the carrier and to the vet. He got steroid and antibiotic shots. I took him home and let him back in the backyard. But by 2 or 3 months later, he still wasn't healed and his front legs were rubbed raw too. Then there was a weird thing with one eyed that I was freaking out about. I took him back to the vet where he got more steroid and antibiotic shots and they gave me an oral antibiotic to give him for a week. He stayed in the house after that. He had 3 or 4 more rounds of steroid and antibiotic shots over the next 8 months for so before the skin and fun on his nose and legs finally grew back. On top of all that he also had a severe flea allergy messing up other parts of his skin. The poor cat didn't belong outside.
Jumbo is a really sweet lap cat when it's just him. He doesn't like Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper and they hate him. That is pretty much the reason I found this forum. But I'll get into that a later in the behavior section. I'm really glad I found this community, I wish I'd known about it years ago.